Confessions of a Murder Suspect

CONFESSION

I saw Maud cry once.

I know you probably don’t believe that’s possible, but it’s true. I need to prove to you that my parents really were human. That they could feel pain.

I can’t place the memory specifically in time; I imagine this is one of those traumatic moments that Dr. Keyes worked so hard to help me forget, but somehow it still lingers.

I remember that I’d come home early that day because lacrosse practice had been canceled unexpectedly. So I know it was before the accident with Robert that landed me in the hospital with fifty stitches.

As I entered the apartment, I heard a strange, strangled noise coming from the direction of Maud’s study.

Others might have sprinted toward the sound to make sure there was no foul play, or maybe called out, asking if everyone was all right. But I think I’m a born investigator. When I hear something unusual, it’s my nature to get quiet and observe, to study. So I took my shoes off, the Angel family rule, and padded quietly down the hall.

When I reached the door to the study, which was cracked open, I heard Samantha’s voice. “Of course you had to do it. A mother’s role is to prepare and protect her child. Period. You knew what he would do to her.”

There was brief silence, then a gasp, then a wail. “We did something much worse, Samantha.” It was Maud’s voice, twisted with emotion. “What we did… the consequences are final. I have never failed so spectacularly in my life.”

“You didn’t fail. The person who you hired to do the job failed.”

“I shouldn’t have trusted him.”

“But it was an accident.”

“Accidents are the very definition of failure. Pure, complete failure.”

“Maud, the past can’t be changed. You can only let yourself think of the future. Of what’s next. Let’s discuss what can be done to… clean up. Let’s discuss how I can help.”

“Malcolm is taking care of that part. The person who did this will be taken care of. Permanently.”

Permanently taken care of? Fired, I reassured myself. That must be what she means.

The person who did… what? Were they talking about someone working for the hedge fund? Or the man driving the vehicle that had killed Katherine?

Or the boy who had tried to steal their precious Tandoori away from them?

The boy I think I loved… once?

I’m so sorry, reader. I can’t go on thinking about that right now.